


Back of My Heart + Chapter 1

by alittlepieceofgundamwing_archivist



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Gift Fic, Lemon, M/M, Reunions, Romance, Unrequited Love, Yaoi, post war-ness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-17
Updated: 2013-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 06:53:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14350221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlepieceofgundamwing_archivist/pseuds/alittlepieceofgundamwing_archivist
Summary: by Ponderosa--The blonde smiled gently and reached out to place his hand on Duo's. "Don't be sorry Duo, it's just that-""You're not gay," Duo finished for him. His cheeks stung as blood rushed back into his face.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).  
> \------------  
> A/N: Written entirely for Dacia, because I love her muchly.

"Oh God," Duo stammered. "I'm so sorry." Perched wide-eyed on the edge of a wrought-iron patio chair, he wanted nothing more than to run, or better yet, die right there on the spot. His knuckles were white as he gripped the chair's curving arms, and in the circular, glass-topped table that stood between him and Quatre, the reflection of his face was equally bloodless. The patio table had been a mile wide when he'd leaned across to kiss Quatre, but now it had shrunk far too small for his liking.   
  
The blonde smiled gently and reached out to place his hand on Duo's. "Don't be sorry Duo, it's just that-"   
  
"You're not gay," Duo finished for him. His cheeks stung as blood rushed back into his face.   
  
Quatre smiled again, his eyes crinkling at the corners. He gathered Duo's fingers into his and squeezed them firmly. "No, I'm not, but I am very flattered," he said, holding Duo's gaze, willing the other man to see the honesty behind his words.   
  
"I feel like such an ass," Duo groaned. He freed his fingers from Quatre's grip to smooth his hands down his face. A rueful smile turned his lips and he shook his head. "Do I look as red as I think?"   
  
"Oh yes," Quatre said, one side of his mouth quirking.   
  
Duo groaned again and leaned back in the chair. The lattice backing was cold through the thin silk of his shirt - he'd worn his lucky dark blue one tonight - and he lolled his head back as far as he could to stare up at the evening sky. If they had been on Earth, the first stars would be appearing in the steadily darkening canopy, but instead he saw only the inner colony wall fading into shadow. "Thanks for taking this so well."   
  
"If it makes you feel better, it was a very good kiss."   
  
Duo chuckled throatily and his stomach quivered as he tried to suppress a full out laugh. "Well, that's good. It took me all night to get up the nerve," Duo glanced over at Quatre. He couldn't hold back any longer and his laugh burst from his lips like gunfire. "I can't believe I kissed you."   
  
Quatre's eyes warmed as they crinkled again. "I hope this won't affect our friendship. I do care deeply for you, Duo."   
  
Duo reached out and placed his hand hesitantly on the blonde's sleeve. There was no resistance or discomfort in his friend as he let his touch linger on the soft cotton. "Thanks Q," he said, with a lopsided grin that failed to draw attention away from the slight choke in his voice. He felt like such a fool. He had been so sure that Quatre's affection for him was more than simply platonic.   
  
"I don't want this to come between our friendship either," said Duo softly. His eyes went out of focus as he continued to stare at the spot where the tips of his fingers lightly rested. Duo tried to shake himself out of the trance that seemed to slow the very flow of time around him. He cleared his throat, "I think I need to spend a little time alone."   
  
"Of course," Quatre nodded. He stood up gracefully, using the action itself as a diplomatic way to remove Duo's hand from his arm and help bring the longhaired youth back into the present. "I think I'll head back in to the office to take a look at those reports I've been neglecting. You're welcome to stay here a while longer if you'd like."   
  
Duo watched the blonde leave without being able to say even a thank you.  
  
+  
  
It was full on dark when he closed the glass door that led onto the terrace. Duo flipped on the light and stared at the familiar interior of Quatre's apartment. It was spacious and warmly appointed, but like the other residences the Winner heir owned around the Earth Sphere, there was little of its owner reflected within its walls.   
  
Most homes had pictures, scattered about like little pockets of memories, or random clutter that you could look at and wonder about their significance. This apartment held none of those things. There were plenty of items displayed about the room, but Duo knew that almost all of them had been gifts that Quatre had accepted with good grace and found a use for in his usual thoughtful, practical fashion. It felt odd to him knowing that Quatre lived here for a good third of the year, but the place still felt like a hotel room.   
  
He couldn't stay here a minute longer, Duo decided. He strode across the room to where his jacket waited over the back of a low-cushioned chair. As he pulled on the heavy jacket, he sucked in a breath and let the sharp tang of the leather drown out the memory of Quatre's subtle cologne.   
  
Duo had been out in the cold for hours, and his fingers were numb as he dug his keys out of his pocket. Flipping them into his palm, he reached for the door. When the filigreed handle twisted of its own accord, Duo jumped back nimbly; narrowly avoiding a smack in the face as the door burst inward.   
  
"Uh," he said intelligently, as his shocked gaze was met by an equally startled pair of green eyes. "Hi."   
  
The statement and feeble wave Duo offered broke Trowa's stunned reaction and the former pilot adjusted the duffel on his shoulder before bending down to pick up a second similar bag.   
  
"Duo," said Trowa, as if that was enough, and proceeded past him into the apartment. The tall man grunted as he slung his heavy bags onto the couch and rolled his head from side to side before he turned to face Duo.   
  
"What are you doing here?" Duo asked. The door was wide open and he knew he should probably just leave, but his curiosity was piqued. He hadn't seen Trowa in a long time. Taking a moment to count back, it was nearing three years since they'd seen one another. Time flies when you join a planetary terraforming project.   
  
"Visiting Quatre," he answered. Trowa moved to stand by the door, hesitating to close it when Duo looked like he wasn't sure if he was leaving or not. "Seat opened on an earlier flight, so I'm two days ahead of schedule."   
  
"Q just went back to his office not too long ago."   
  
"He works too hard," Trowa stated. Deciding that Duo wasn't ready to go, he shut the door firmly and went back to his bags.   
  
"I was just leaving," Duo said, feeling out of place.   
  
"Want to stay a few? Have some coffee with me?" Trowa pulled out an expensive looking bag of beans from a side pouch on his duffel. "I'm still on Earth time."   
  
Trowa headed for the kitchen. He moved as if he knew the place intimately. 'Not surprising,' Duo told himself. Just because he hadn't seen Trowa for a long time didn't mean that Quatre hadn't, and the two had been nearly inseparable back during the war.   
  
Duo fingered the cold lump of keys in his hand and chewed on the inside of his lower lip. Going home to an empty apartment didn't seem that appealing and neither did finding a bar and drinking to numb the ache of rejection. Coffee and catching up with a friend sounded infinitely better than being alone. Duo dropped his jacket back over the chair before wandering towards the kitchen where the ringing hiss of water filling a kettle beckoned.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Ponderosa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

"Last of the pot," Trowa said, returning to the living room. The mug he handed Duo was filled a measly third of the way with the dark, fragrant brew, but the longhaired man accepted it greedily.   
  
"This is the best damn coffee I've ever had," said Duo, for the tenth time.   
  
Just as he had each time before, Trowa allowed a slight smile at the compliment. If there was one thing he was proud of, it was the coffee making skills he had been perfecting the past five years. He retook his spot on the floor in front of the loveseat and propped an elbow on the cushioned seat behind him. Regarding Duo curiously, he opted to not resume the debate about Sphere politics and turned the conversation towards a less blood-pressure raising topic: "So, Quatre had told me you were back from Mars..."   
  
Sprawled on the matching couch that formed an L in front of the room's gilded brass fireplace, Duo sipped his coffee and bobbed his head. "Yeah, yeah. Man, what a shithole.   
  
"Piloting the cloud seeders wasn't bad, it was living in those domes," Duo said. "I haven't had such crappy meals since I was living on the streets. It costs too much to transport fresh food, and there's only so much farmable soil, so most nights it was rats."   
  
Trowa made a sympathetic grunt. He had grown up in a mercenary company, and was intimately familiar with the wide variety - and all equally tasteless - types of rations. "OZ surplus?" he guessed.   
  
"Ding-ding-ding! Give the man his prize! Congratulations, Trowa Barton, you've won a lifetime supply of self-heating Salisbury steak!"   
  
"Words cannot express my state of overwhelming joy," Trowa deadpanned.   
  
The American laughed, then waved an arm around, gesturing broadly as he went on about his brief experience as part of the terraforming team. As Duo went on, Trowa decided that he was quite glad he hadn't opted to take a year or two off from the circus to volunteer out there.   
  
"Best thing that came out of it," said Duo, his lips stretching into a wide grin, "was having been there to see Noin give Zechs a black eye when he finally broke down and proposed."   
  
One of Trowa's eyebrows shot towards his hairline. "She hit him?" he said in disbelief. "...before or after he asked?"   
  
Duo grinned wider still and immediately launched into the full story with an infectious enthusiasm that had Trowa hanging on every word. The braided man paused to gulp down the rest of his coffee before it lost all its heat and set aside his empty mug beneath a bulbous lamp crafted of smoky glass. As he began again, Duo unbuttoned and pushed up his sleeves. Maintaining those atmospheric scrubbers under the harsh Martian sun had at least given Duo a lasting tan.   
  
The last few years had also seen the former Deathscythe pilot gain some height; he stood at a respectable 5'10", but that was still a good three inches shy of Trowa. The green-eyed man silently took note of all the changes he saw in his friend and was privately amazed at how many there were. Duo's face, dominated by those expressive, violet-grey eyes, had thinned and lost its boyishness. His jaw, while still smooth, curved handsomely - the subtle angles complimented by the way he wore his bangs longer now towards the ears. There remained an androgynous quality to him, but with age came muscle definition, and some of Duo's masculine attributes were more easily noticed.   
  
"So, Trowa, it's your turn to talk for a while."   
  
"I don't exactly lead a very exciting life."   
  
Duo snorted. "You earn your living by getting knives hurled at your face and taming lions. You don't call that exciting?"   
  
Trowa smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "You stayed with me and Cathy for a week back in '97. You saw what it was like. Not much has changed since then."   
  
"Fine... fine..." said Duo. He closed his eyes and tucked his hands behind his head. "Just talk then. About anything, I don't care."   
  
"All right," Trowa replied.  
  
+  
  
A stuck pig. That's what his alarm sounded like. Its high-pitched squeal dragged Duo kicking and screaming from dreamland and back into the harsh gray light of reality.   
  
"Go to hell," he growled, smacking his hand down on the snooze bar. Only, his hand swooshed through the air and momentum sent him tumbling onto the floor.   
  
"Motherfucker!" Duo cried, scrambling to get up. He wasn't sure what was worse: the biting cold of the hardwood floor, the pain blossoming at his hip and elbow, or the humiliation when he noticed Trowa had appeared in the doorway with a familiar red kettle in hand.   
  
"I see you're a morning person."   
  
Duo shot the tall brunet a dirty look.   
  
"I'm about to put some water on," Trowa said, ignoring the glare. One thin eyebrow curved upward, the only sign that he was amused by the situation. "Did you want a cup?"   
  
"Shower first," Duo croaked, shedding the remains of his makeshift bed as he stood up unsteadily.   
  
"Your clothes are in the wash. Just borrow some from my bag in the meantime. It's in the guest room," Trowa said. His eyes stayed on Duo for a moment longer before he slipped back into the kitchen. "...and I'll turn the heat up."   
  
"Wha-?" Duo's reply died as he glanced down at the last place Trowa's eyes had skimmed past. Staring at his naked body, as if he was seeing it for the first time, he couldn't decide if he was happy about not sporting morning wood.   
  
Snatching a blanket and wrapping it around his waist, Duo headed down the hall. Yawning hugely, he tried to remember what had happened the night before. He winced as the yawn faded and rubbed his throat. It felt a little raw this morning. He and Trowa had talked well into the night about everything up to and including their Gundams, but despite the fact that he had woken up buck naked, he was sure there had been no sex, or anything resembling it. Or, at least he was pretty sure. As the taste in his mouth reminded him, Quatre's bar was down a bottle of whisky.   
  
With a few drinks in him, Duo had confessed everything that had happened with Quatre. Trowa hadn't reacted negatively when he'd outed himself, but neither had he immediately fallen onto his back with his heels in the air and an offer to let Duo have his merry way with him in a wild bout of comfort sex. A pity that wasn't the case, Duo thought as he turned on the shower and fiddled with the temperature. He usually went after blondes, but Trowa had that delicious, lean swimmer's build, and something about him just plain screamed, 'I'm great in the sack!'   
  
Sidetracked for a moment dwelling on those long, well-toned legs he'd gotten a peek at a few minutes ago, Duo went back to mentally recounting the night's events. With a mortified groan, he recalled quite vividly what happened to his clothes.   
  
'Maxwell, when did you turn into such an idiot?' he asked himself as he stepped into the shower and huddled under the spray of sinfully hot water. Trying to work the fireplace with all that happy juice in him had not been one of his smartest ideas. 'And what in the hell happened to your underwear?'   
  
A good fifteen minutes later, he was twisting his hair into a thick yellow towel, and Duo still had no answer to that little mystery. He stepped into the borrowed pair of jeans and struggled to pull them up over his damp skin. They fit well enough in the waist, but dragged on past his heels, and Duo steadied the towel on his head as he bent over to roll back the cuffs.   
  
He took his time finishing up in the bathroom, doing his best to scrub toothpaste into his teeth with a finger and grateful to find a bottle of mouthwash to finish the job. Duo picked up a comb from beside the sink to tame his hair into its usual serviceable plait. The few fine blonde hairs lodged in the teeth reminded him where he was, but he was surprised to find he wasn't as uncomfortable as he felt he ought to be. A final glance in the mirror once his hair was dealt with revealed that, although he hadn't shaved, he didn't look nearly as scruffy as he felt.   
  
Trowa's shirt fit him much better than the pants had. Soft and well worn, it stretched comfortably across his back as he padded down the hall. Unfortunately, the black briefs he'd snatched after some debate felt far more constrictive than his favored cotton boxers, and Duo adjusted himself a dozen times on the way to the kitchen. He wondered if it was worse knowing your friend was going commando in a pair of your jeans, or that his boys were nestled in a pair of your underwear.   
  
He could hear Trowa shuffling around the kitchen, catching the muffled bang of a cabinet closing and the skid of a mug on the tiled countertop. Unspoiled by any other odors, the rich smell of coffee wafted out, and he breathed the lure of caffeine in greedily.   
  
"Gee, after last night, don't I at least get breakfast?" Duo quipped as he swung around the doorway.   
  
"Good morning, Duo," Quatre said.   
  
"Quatre! I uh-" Duo turned a spectacular shade of red as he stood there in Trowa's clothes.   
  
"He went to the bakery on the corner," Quatre said before Duo had to ask, and handed him one of two steaming mugs. The slim blonde was smiling as he retreated to the small breakfast table set beneath a narrow window and pulled up the blinds. Brilliant mid-morning sunlight streamed in through the glass, spilling over the small table and onto the large gray tiles of the floor to form a neat golden rectangle. "It's going to be such a beautiful day today."   
  
With nothing else to do, Duo followed and took the seat opposite Quatre. He tried to act naturally, but his blunder from the night before had been ripped freshly to the forefront of his mind. "I wasn't planning to stay here last night," said Duo abruptly.   
  
Quatre nodded affably and nudged a small pitcher of cream towards the other man. He wrapped his slim fingers around his mug and lifted it, mindful of the heat as he took a sip. He crinkled his nose and set it down almost immediately. "Trowa makes excellent coffee, but I, regrettably, do not," he said, and reached for the sugar spoon.   
  
"I had a little problem with your fireplace," Duo admitted. He poured a good dollop of cream into the dark coffee. If it had caffeine in it, he wasn't about to be picky. Besides, it had to be better than the sludge he normally brewed for himself.   
  
"I saw," Quatre suppressed a smile. "I'll have someone in to clean later today."   
  
"I'll pa-"   
  
The blonde waved a hand, dismissing the offer before Duo had a chance to give it. "Don't worry about it," he said, wide blue eyes forgiving as always. Something shifted in his gaze and Duo suddenly found adding sugar to his coffee a task that required all of his attention. His hope to ward off whatever query lurked on Quatre's tongue wasn't fulfilled, as his ruse failed, or Quatre simply chose to ignore it. The blonde leaned forward conspiratorially and said in a low voice, "So you and Trowa..."   
  
"No," Duo said firmly, quashing that thought before it had a chance to take root.   
  
"Oh," Quatre sat back, his lips set in an unreadable line. His usual amiable expression returned as he looked towards the living room. "Well then, I suppose now I'll have to ask instead of assume why I found your underwear in the cushions of my couch."   
  
"Is that what happened to them?" said Duo, genuinely surprised.   
  
"Nevermind," Quatre said. He picked up his mug again to give the coffee a second chance, and smiled as the tension in the air lessened by a good degree. "I've changed my mind. I really don't want to know."   
  
+  
  
"Well, it seems my vacation has been cut short before it had a chance to begin," Quatre said, setting the phone down. He turned towards Duo with a sigh. "Will you give Trowa my apologies when he gets back? I won't be free until the weekend at the earliest."   
  
The braided man nodded and stood up, hooking his thumbs into the pockets of his borrowed jeans. He followed Quatre to the door, feeling a bit odd since he was technically the guest. "Did you guys have plans for today?"   
  
"No," Quatre answered, and Duo remembered that Trowa had shown up early.   
  
The blonde picked up his keys and briefcase off the endtable and pulled his coat off the rack. He slung it over his arm and paused. "Although, if you're not busy, maybe the two of you could spend some..."   
  
Duo narrowed his eyes. He knew that tone; the subtle, persuasive one so often accompanied by a contemplative draw of eyebrow and a calculating gleam in those bright blue eyes. Was Quatre trying to play matchmaker? He interrupted the blonde mid-sentence, and leveled him with a sharp look. "Are you trying to do what I think you're trying to do?"   
  
Quatre tugged at the cuff of his sleeve and chuckled dryly as he opened the door. "Matchmaking? Hardly. If it weren't for the snags in these negotiations, I would be playing host. The fact that you're here provides a perfect alternative to leaving Trowa without anything to do. The two of you haven't seen nearly enough of each other in the past five years."   
  
"Yeah, you're right," said Duo. Trowa was always moving from colony to colony, and the Mars Project aside, he had been having his fun helping the Schbeiker family's salvage business get back on its feet. He and Trowa had talked a lot last night, but there were still things Duo wanted a chance to catch up on. "Wouldn't mind hanging out with him some more if he's interested."   
  
"I'm sure he's interested," Quatre said.   
  
'Not as interested as I am,' Duo thought. He scratched his elbow and leaned against the back of the couch. 'Wait a minute. What's with me?! Can't have Quatre, let's latch on to the next single male that comes along?' If he was being honest with himself however, there was more to it than that. He'd never truly believed things could work out with Quatre, nor had he spent much time thinking about the reality of such a relationship. The call that had come while they were patching things up was a prime example of what life with the blonde would be like. Between Quatre's erratic work schedule and his occasionally overbearing nature, Duo was definitely happier off as nothing more than friends. Moreover, Trowa was interesting, good-looking, made better coffee than he did, and probably straight; everything he seemed to prefer in a man.   
  
"I'll talk to you later, Duo." Quatre flashed him a smile and Duo lifted his chin in a little farewell nod. The blonde shook his head and chuckled again on his way out, "Matchmaking... really..."   
  
'Huh, little disappointed aren't you, Maxwell,' Duo thought as the door clicked shut.   
  
"Oh, Duo, one more thing..." the door opened a crack and Quatre poked his head through, grinning like a fiend. "Trowa kisses better than you."  
  
+  
  
"How long will it be?" Trowa asked. He crumpled up an empty muffin wrapper and tossed it into the center of the table.   
  
"Until what?" Duo tried to feign ignorance, but he knew the gig was up.   
  
"Until you ask about whatever it is that's making you look at me like that," Trowa replied. He wiped his fingers off on his knee and fixed Duo with an intense look.   
  
Duo suppressed a shiver. Though often half-hidden beneath that mass of hair, he'd always thought Trowa had the most gorgeous green eyes he'd ever seen. They weren't a few shades off blue, they were a true dark green, and, he noticed for the first time, flecked with a ring of light emerald around the pupil. Abso-fuckin-lutely gorgeous. Precisely the kind of eyes you want to stay open when you kiss, just so you could watch them grow heavier with desire as your tongue... Shit. He was staring.   
  
"You kiss-" Duo cleared his throat and glanced away quickly. It really wasn't any of his business. "Eh, just forget about it," he said. He shook his head dismissively and took a big bite of croissant. He could put a lid on his curiosity, all he had to do was think about how good the food was and he wouldn't be trapped into staring again.   
  
"You want to know about me and Quatre," Trowa stated.   
  
So much for that plan. With his mouth full of flaky pastry goodness, Duo could do nothing but nod his head.   
  
"During the war, I thought he had a crush on me, so I kissed him," Trowa said. When it was obvious that Duo was hardly satisfied by that response, he sat back in his chair and elaborated. "I wasn't innocent, I knew what men sometimes did with other men. Quatre on the other hand...   
  
"He was excited at first by the prospect, but it didn't take much before he realized that his feelings towards the same sex simply didn't run in that direction." Trowa crossed his legs and shrugged. "That's all there is to it."   
  
"So you're..."   
  
"Just very good friends," Trowa finished.   
  
That hadn't been what Duo was going to ask, but he felt he had done enough prying for so early in the day and concentrated on wolfing down the rest of his meal.   
  
"Hmm..." The hairs on the back of Duo's neck prickled and he glanced up to find himself the target of Trowa's scrutiny. With a slow nod, the taller man murmured, "I see."   
  
Duo's mouth went dry and he swallowed with some difficulty. "Huh?"   
  
Trowa shook his head and changed the subject back to Duo's offer of finding something to do together for the next couple days. "Are you sure you can take the time off to keep me company?"   
  
"No sweat," Duo said, and the small smile that curved Trowa's lips made his stomach do delightful little flipflops.  
  
+  
  
It was Friday night before he knew it, and Duo tried his best to not let his disappointment show in the cab ride back to Quatre's apartment building. To say he'd had a good time hanging around with Trowa would be a massive understatment. They had always gotten along decently before, but until now, had never spent any real amount of time together alone. Some things he had discovered about Trowa, such as an affinity for bawdy jokes, had caught him unawares, while others, like an extensive knowledge of modern literature, didn't surprise him one bit.   
  
The ride was more than half over when Trowa finally broke the silence. "That was the worst play I've ever seen in my life," he said, adding a low groan for emphasis.   
  
In the window's reflection, above where he'd traced little spirals in the frost, Duo saw Trowa glancing over at him. "Sorry," he mumbled, gnawing on the side of his fingernail. He cleared his throat and dropped his hands in his lap as he sat up straighter. "It's a gamble with last minute tickets like that, you know?"   
  
Trowa shrugged. "I still had a good time."   
  
"Yeah?"   
  
"No small thanks to you."   
  
Duo's heart sped up when Trowa gave him a smile and the rest of the way to Quatre's apartment seemed to go by in a blur. When they arrived in front of the tall building, Trowa leaned forward to pay the driver. Duo couldn't help noticing how long the other man's fingers were as the cabbie took his money.   
  
He opened the door and paused. "Why don't you come on up for some coffee..."   
  
As much as he wanted that invitation to be hinting at something more, Duo couldn't believe that it was. He shook his head and made some lame excuse as Trowa got out of the car.   
  
"It's only eleven thirty. Are you sure?" Trowa asked. He propped one hand on the roof and leaned down to wait for Duo's answer. The wind flipped up the collar of his coat and tugged his hair out of his face. Duo swallowed as he looked up and found himself at the mercy of that alluring green gaze.   
  
"Last chance," said Trowa, drawing away.   
  
"Well, all right. Just one cup."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> by Ponderosa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note from Dacia, the archivist: this work was originally archived at [A Little Piece of Gundam Wing](https://fanlore.org/wiki/A_Little_Piece_Of_Gundam_Wing), which closed in 2017. To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project after July 2017. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [a little piece of gundam wing collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/alittlepieceofgundamwing/profile).

Duo felt like the air was charged with electricity as they rode the elevator up. Trowa was leaning against the carpeted wall across from him, his legs crossed at the ankle and his arms across his chest, looking the very epitome of cool. That the other man could be so calm was driving Duo insane, particularly when he himself couldn't keep still. As the numbers ticked by, he bounced his leg, tapped his fingers against his hip and tried to find something - anything - to say.   
  
When the tension was an inch away from killing him, he cleared his throat and forced himself to look Trowa in the eye. "So..." he began.   
  
The elevator car came to a stop.   
  
Trowa pushed away from the wall as the doors slid open. "Hmm?"   
  
"Uh, nothing," Duo said, motioning for Trowa to exit and then following him into the hall. His palms were sweating and he shoved his hands into his jacket pockets.   
  
"I really had fun this week, Duo," said Trowa, glancing over at the shorter man. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, holding it with his foot as he shoved his keys back in his pants.   
  
"Yeah, me too," Duo replied absently as he stepped inside. As the door clicked shut, he began to regret his decision to come up; being this close to Trowa without anyone else around was going to his head, or more accurately, his dick. Everything the green-eyed man did seemed sexual: the way he ran his finger down the row of buttons before pressing the number for the right floor; the way he licked his lips before sliding the key into the lock; the way he stood there waiting with one thumb hooked into the pocket of his jeans, so that they were pulled down just enough to reveal a sliver of skin beneath the hem of his t-shirt... And shit. He found himself caught staring again, and this time, it was with a far less innocent line of sight.   
  
"Hey, Trowa, you know, I think maybe it's too late for coffee," Duo said. His ears were burning and he met the other man's eyes with an extraordinary amount of willpower.   
  
"Hmm. I think you're right."   
  
"We should do this again sometime though," Duo said. He reached for the doorhandle, ready to beat a hasty retreat before he did something stupid.   
  
Trowa thrust an arm out to keep the door closed. "You don't have to leave," he said, leveling his eyes with Duo's.   
  
"I, uh..." Duo said slowly. His tongue felt thick in his mouth and his head spun. Surely, this couldn't be happening. He was the one wanting to nail Trowa right here on the floor, it wasn't mutual, right?   
  
"Stay," Trowa said.   
  
Duo had backed up instinctively and his shoulderblades were flush against the door. He stared up into Trowa's face. A shiver ran along his spine and he licked his lips nervously. He'd spent half a week pretty much trying not to jump the guy, and now was his chance, but Quatre was due back tomorrow, and speaking of the blonde, he sure as hell didn't want to make the same mistake again.   
  
He tried to gather his wits. "Quatre..." he began.   
  
"Will be delighted to find you here tomorrow," Trowa finished. He leaned in closer until he felt Duo's breath mix with his. "He's been trying to sic me on you ever since you showed up with those wine glasses in his hospital room." He rested a hand lightly on Duo's hip and thumbed small circles on the soft denim.   
  
Well, that answered that. This was no ambiguous series of hugs, Trowa was definitely coming on to him. Duo tried not to grin and managed to keep his full lips confined to a smirk. "Not a matchmaker, my ass."   
  
Trowa made a purring chuckle low in his throat. "So, are you willing to stay?" he asked, his lips brushing against Duo's with every word.   
  
"If I do, Q will be sickeningly proud of himself," Duo murmured. His pulse hammered in his throat as he tilted his head a few degrees.   
  
"I don't think I care," Trowa said.   
  
"Me eith-" Duo's reply disintegrated into a garbled moan as Trowa's hand slid to cup his crotch.   
  
Duo reached up to take hold of Trowa's face as they shared a wild, desperate kiss and stumbled their way towards the hallway. They passed the bookcase with no difficulty, but when the taller man's icy fingers found the button of his jeans, Duo faltered and banged into a low endtable.   
  
Trowa managed to catch both Duo and the sculpture they knocked over. He slid the undoubtedly expensive piece of pottery back in its place as Duo regained his footing.   
  
"That was close," Duo laughed nervously.   
  
The rest of the way was negotiated far more carefully and the mood was far less frantic when they made it to the guest room.   
  
"I shouldn't have to ask, but..." Trowa stroked the front of the other man's jeans, "tested recently?"   
  
"Clean," Duo answered.   
  
Trowa nodded. "Same."   
  
With that out of the way, Duo slithered his arms around the taller man's neck and sought out his mouth. He felt the chill of Trowa's fingers against his belly again, and sucked in a breath as they slid down the loosened front of his jeans. "Your fingers are cold," he teased, and flicked his tongue against Trowa's lower lip.   
  
"They're warming up," Trowa replied, wrapping his hand around Duo's erection.   
  
Duo's hips jerked reflexively, straining into the other man's cool touch as those long fingers caressed and teased, then fell into a steady rhythm. He tangled his fingers in Trowa's thick hair and kissed him hard, his tongue automatically matching the pace of the hand that stroked his cock. Ice turned to fire, and far sooner than he expected, Duo had to twist his head to break the kiss and gasp out a breathy, "Wait."   
  
"Damn," he said, taking hold of Trowa's wrist and waiting until he was sure he wouldn't come before daring to extract the other man's hand from his pants. "Now, /that/ was close."   
  
He took a few deep breaths and grinned crookedly. "What say we get a bit more naked before I manage to embarrass myself by blowing my load way too fast," Duo chuckled, and crouched down to remove his boots so he could drag his pants all the way off.   
  
Trowa followed suit, bending over and swiftly unlacing his shoes, but when he straightened and his hands went to the waist of his pants, Duo stopped him. Still crouching, the American looked up through his bangs. "Let me," he said huskily.   
  
At Trowa's nod, Duo took the corner of denim between his teeth and tugged. Once the button came free, he peeled down the zipper with his lips and nudged aside the flaps of Trowa's fly to run his mouth against the soft, black cotton of the taller man's briefs.   
  
With slow, deliberate care, he dragged both underwear and jeans down past the other's slim hips. The light filtering in from the hallway ghosted through the fine hairs on Trowa's legs, and Duo ran his palms along the back of the man's lean thighs before he used his lips to explore the shape of the thick cock that hovered before him.   
  
Duo closed his eyes as he took in as much of Trowa's length as he could. Although he'd been told several time that he was good at giving head, Duo never really enjoyed performing and rarely did it for his partners, but he wanted to do everything he could to make Trowa feel good and remember this night forever. He sucked as hard as he could without worrying about his teeth and used every trick he knew; twisting his tongue and rolling it expertly along the underside of Trowa's shaft. As he coaxed a series of moans from the tall man, the erection that had been fading between Duo's thighs surged with new life, and a wholly unexpected shiver of pleasure ran down his spine when he felt Trowa's hand curve across the top of his head.   
  
He felt a tug at the base of his skull and the weight of his braid disappeared from his back as Trowa took it in his hand. Hearing his name whispered heavy with desire made another spark of pleasure shoot through his body, and Duo found himself genuinely excited as each time his tongue slid a certain way, a shudder echoed down Trowa's long legs.   
  
"Duo, enough," Trowa panted, hunching over. He struggled to untangle his fingers from the other man's braid. "Stop. I'll come."   
  
Reluctantly, Duo drew away. "I want to fuck you," he said, and if Trowa was thinking the same thing, he didn't voice any disappointment.   
  
"Have a condom?" Trowa asked, running his knuckles along Duo's cheek.   
  
His generous mouth widening into a grin, Duo gave Trowa's ass a firm squeeze before he settled back on his heels and reached behind him to drag his jacket off the foot of the low bed. The folds of leather seemed to multiply as he pawed through it, and it took him three times as long as it should have to locate the inner pocket. "Duo Maxwell," he said, pulling out a little foil package and an accompanying tiny packet of lube, "is always prepared."   
  
If Duo had proved how talented his mouth was, now it was Trowa's turn. "Have a seat," he said, and his green-eyes flashed eagerly as he snatched the condom from Duo. After a moment spared to kick away the clinging remains of pants and underwear, they were both naked, and Trowa was settling on his knees between Duo's legs.   
  
"Definitely don't need the heat up tonight," Trowa said under his breath as he opened the foil and tossed it on the floor. He placed the rubber between his lips, and lowering his mouth, neatly unrolled the condom without using anything else.   
  
Scooting back, Duo drew Trowa with him onto the bed. He ran a hand across the other man's back as they pressed their bodies eagerly against one another and shared a fresh bout of wet kisses. Long fingers stroked the length of his side and he rubbed the heel of his foot against Trowa's calf as they ground their erections together. He felt dizzy, excited, and a little bit nervous, and when he couldn't take it anymore, he blindly tore open the sampler of lube. He rubbed the tips of his fingers at Trowa's asshole, pressing firmly as the muscles began to loosen. Straddled above him, Trowa moaned and curved his spine.   
  
"More," Trowa said, burying his face in the crook of Duo's neck and panting open-mouthed. He slowed his breathing to relax his body as Duo's fingers slid inside him. "Deeper..."   
  
Duo thrust his fingers in as best he could, but the position they were in was awkward. After a few more failed attempts to work his fingers in past the first knuckle, he withdrew his hand and replaced it with the tip of his cock.   
  
As soon as Trowa felt the blunt tip hot against his body, he pressed back, forcing himself down on Duo's shaft. His loosening ring throbbed to the beat of his heart as Duo's cock forced its way inside him and he lay heavily against the longhaired man's chest when he felt it slide fully into his body.   
  
Even with a condom on, fucking Trowa was amazing. Duo found every ragged moan brought him that much closer to coming, and it drove him absolutely wild the way Trowa's knees tightened around his thighs whenever his cock brushed against the bundle of nerves inside the green-eyed man's body.   
  
His skin was damp with sweat and his entire body thrumming with pleasure when Duo stopped long enough to roll Trowa onto his back. Pulling one of the man's long legs over his shoulder, Duo groaned as he thrust back in to Trowa's body. Hips moving in a steady rhythm that drove his cock deep into the hot passage that gripped him tightly, Duo twisted his head to the side and kissed the rough skin of Trowa's knee.   
  
"You are so fucking hot," he said, punctuating each word with a powerful thrust that sent his balls smacking against Trowa's ass.   
  
Trowa bucked his hips in response and slid a hand between their sweat-slicked bodies. "Faster," he demanded as he took his cock in one hand and gripped the twisted blankets with the other.   
  
Duo obliged, letting Trowa's leg slide off his shoulder and dropping down to his elbows to drive his cock relentlessly into the man beneath him. "I'm not going to last long like this," he gasped.   
  
"Uhnn..." Trowa made a strangled cry, and the sudden absence of friction between their stomachs told Duo he didn't have to worry about coming too soon anymore.   
  
Long limbs tangled themselves around him, and Duo found his completion swiftly. The feeling was explosive... amazing... fucking mind-blowing, he decided. He collapsed atop Trowa with muscles that trembled with exertion and his heart pounding furiously. "Holy fuck," he whispered.   
  
"That was..." Duo trailed off, and tried to summon the willpower to move.   
  
"Yeah..." Trowa murmured, sounding somewhere between exhausted and awed.   
  
"I need a shower," Duo said, when he finally managed to get himself up.   
  
"So do I," Trowa said.   
  
Duo grinned as he snatched kleenex from the box on the night stand and peeled off the condom to toss it in the trash. "There's room for two," he said, casting a significant glance towards the bathroom.   
  
"So there is," Trowa replied. He regarded the other man curiously as he swung his legs onto the floor. "Would that mean I get to see that hair of yours unbraided?"   
  
"Hell, you can even wash it if you want," Duo said, and he laughed when Trowa immediately snatched a pair of towels from atop the dresser and headed purposefully out of the room.  
  
+  
  
They had been right, Quatre was altogether too pleased with himself when he showed up the following morning and found them feeding eachother strawberries at the kitchen table.   
  
"You two really had a good time this week, I take it," Quatre said. He was leaning against the doorframe eyeing the pair casually. "A really good time."   
  
Trowa chucked a strawberry at the blonde.   
  
Quatre laughed and managed the catch the dark red projectile before it hit him in the chest. He bit into it and nodded in the direction of the livingroom. "Which one of you do I blame for leaving their underwear in my couch this time?"   
  
"Hey, we were nowhere near the cou-" Duo stopped in midsentence when he saw the grin creeping onto Quatre's face.   
  
"Tsk. Tsk. So easily outmaneuvered," Trowa said, and chuckled when Duo kicked him under the table.   
  
"From the get-go," Quatre said with a wink.   
  
"So, what do you have planned for today?" Trowa asked, his eyes tracking the blonde as he slid into the chair next to Duo.   
  
"Three box seats at the Skybelt Raceway if Duo cares to join us," Quatre said. He smiled broadly at the longhaired man when the look on his face said plainly that he had expected to be going home alone as soon as brunch was over.   
  
"Well I do have a few more days vacation time left," Duo said hesitantly.   
  
"Good, then it's settled." Trowa nodded and scooted his chair back. He ran a hand through the thick mane of his hair and said, "I'll go try and comb this thing again."   
  
"He's a great guy, isn't he?" Quatre said, when Trowa was out of earshot.   
  
"Yeah," Duo replied. He smiled faintly as he thought about how at ease he was around Trowa. "I never knew we had so much in common, but it's like, I dunno...."   
  
"I know," Quatre said. He draped an arm around Duo's shoulders and leaned in to whisper into his ear. "You two could do very well together if you wanted to pursue it."   
  
"What makes you so sure?" Duo asked.   
  
"I can just feel it," Quatre said, giving Duo a friendly hug before he pulled away. "In the back of my heart."   
  
"Heh, you know, I think I know exactly what you mean."   
  
owari


End file.
